Does Online Advertising Hurt Privacy?

Revenues of internet companies are derived mainly from advertisements. It is a well-known fact that without advertisements, a company could never thrive on its own. Online advertising is a billion-dollar industry that keeps the internet going. This powerful marketing tool gives an estimated 96 percent of Google’s and 85 percent of Facebook’s revenues.

Because of privacy issues, the government is keeping a close eye on advertising companies these days. Online advertisers are under observation because the government wants to give internet users better control over their personal information. This business now runs under self-regulation, and this is the strategy that most companies support. By this, each advertising company would sustain its own parameters as to the collection and use of personal data uploaded by consumers.

Last year’s discovery that two of the largest companies were engaged in deceptive privacy practices have received unfavorable reactions. Still, the issue is about the unauthorized collection and trade of user information to advertisers. This has in some way badly harmed the argument for self-regulation.

According to internet companies, heavy regulation does not promote innovation and stifles the growth of the internet. The so called “privacy bill of rights” and the “do not track” system debates are now ongoing, and have aggravated the situation. The bill is the government’s framework to define how consumers can defend their personal information. The do not track system is the industry’s suggestion to give users the option of whether or not their personal information can be collected.

With the blunders that were experienced in the past, online advertisers should by this time have learned a valuable lesson. The policy on self regulation can continue if the companies can act accordingly. It does not really matter if sooner or later the privacy bill of rights will be approved and implemented. Still, they have to consider the privacy of internet users. On their own, they have to take measures in order to address the lack of control over the collection and trading of data to advertisers. Because users’ online activities and real-life identities are revealed, such actions expose internet users to dangers.

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